As part of my professional degree, we were tasked with creating, in groups of four or five people, a game project based on the theme "Stronger Together." I worked with Jeffrey Bondue, Simon Bastianelli, Rayan Madouni et Tayrick Louis-Charles. Following the theme, we decided to create a cooperative game. Being in a supervised project, I had specific tasks, but I also had to help in other areas to ensure the feasibility of the project. I was in charge of designing the first mission of the campaign. We all participated in choosing the gameplay and artistic direction of the game, and once we made our decision, we focused on our strengths.
We decided to set our game in an imaginary world where a magical catastrophe caused parts of the land to float into the sky. You and your partner play as the magical gloves of a witch linked to this catastrophe. With the witch missing, you set out to find her and uncover the mystery behind the disaster. As magical gloves, you possess the power of transformation and must collaborate to solve all the puzzles along the way.
High Five is a cooperative puzzle game in 3D low poly. Each player controls a glove and must work with their partner to reach the end of the level. A set of interactive objects (buttons, ropes, boxes, etc.) is present in the game. Depending on the level, a set of powers is available. You can transform into three forms: rock, paper, and scissors, each with unique characteristics. To transform, you need to find the piece corresponding to the form in the level. Some objects can only be interacted with if the glove has the appropriate form. The game is played in local split-screen mode, and players must communicate to progress. To win, both players must reach the platforms at the end of the level together.
The palm form is the gloves' standard transformation, allowing interaction with wooden crates to push. It can also serve as a platform for the other player to reach heights that can't be accessed with a simple jump, where one player jumps onto the other for support.
The rock form increases the gloves' strength. In this form, by pressing the interaction key in the right place, you can horizontally move large stone blocks. The rock form also allows you to break rocks blocking the way or access to a transformation piece.
The scissors form focuses on speed. In this form, the gloves can propel themselves. While distance isn't limited, the gloves are still affected by gravity, giving their trajectory a curve. This form also allows you to cut ropes holding various bridges. To cut a rope, the player can press the interaction key near it or propel themselves directly into it.
When forming our group, we organized based on each person's skills. Initially, I focused on creating the game's levels, particularly the level introducing the scissors transformation. The structure of this level came to me quickly. The biggest challenge was balancing difficulty: since it was a tutorial level for a casual game, it had to be accessible to new players. I also helped my colleagues with their levels whenever I could. We had three level designers, each responsible for a tutorial level, and then we gathered to create the first main level.
These levels were inspired by the tutorial levels in Portal.
In these levels, players learn the different transformations one by one and discover their special abilities.
In the tutorial levels for scissors and rock,
players start separated and must reunite at the end of the level by helping each other.
The first main level combines all the forms, with players starting together and having to split up to advance.
Software used:
After designing the levels, I moved on to the game's sound design. For the ambient sound, I drew inspiration from one of my favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Both games take place in post-apocalyptic worlds where the player is often alone, so we chose a discreet ambient music that isn't constantly present. Since the game is set on floating islands, we also added natural sounds such as wind and birds.
For the gloves' sound design, each transformation needed to reflect a touch of magic.
Depending on the transformation, the sound had to convey either power or speed.
I also created the menu selection sounds.
Some sounds were played multiple times in a short span,
so I added variations in tone, timing, and volume to avoid monotony and repetition.
Logiciel utilisé :
